The high-g (10,000-12,000 g's) gimbal platform concept differs from previously known high-g platform concepts in that it uses bearings that are mounted in a compliant suspension. The compliant suspension concept offers two design options: One, the bearings may be mounted in an elastomeric housing or option 2, the bearings may be secured to a flexible shaft. Bearing protection is accomplished by transferring the applied platform loads through the compliant suspension which allows hemispherical gimbals to move approximately 0.005 inches and seat on the platform housing cavity. The concept allows each seated gimbal and the platform housing cavity to support the high-g loads rather than the bearings. The concept also offers the gimbal cavity design options of using either elastomeric material bonded to the gimbal and platform housing cavities for the purpose of shock absorbers or the cavity design option may allow the use of non-compliant material.
The only two presently known high-g platform concepts offer bearing protection by supporting the gimbal assembly loads through the use of either bearing shaft-to-housing non-compliant structural load absorbers for each gimbal bearing or a non-compliant tube supporting "gotcha" type caging mechanism.
The two-degree-of-freedom gimbal platform can be used to support and stabilize an antenna or any other type of terminal homing sensor required to survive a high-g launch phase and then operate in a stabilized mode. The concept offers the stabilization options of using either an attitude gyro or rate sensors for gimbal stabilization.
One advantage of the platform concept over presently known structures is the large hemispherical support area gained by the use of a simplified bearing compliant suspension. The flexible shaft suspension offers the advantage of no piece part count increase in order to achieve high-g load bearing protection. The elastomeric suspension requires only one additional part per bearing. The compliant suspension with the hemispherical gimbal supports offers a platform concept that shoud reap substantial cost reduction in high-g bearing protection devices. The compliant suspension concept with its low piece part count design lends itself to good high production yields and excellent reliability for high-g environments.